This Working Paper contains two studies dealing with two key issues of the enlargement process. One sets a broad framework of enlargement scenarios, while the other focuses on some strategic and tactical elements of the ongoing negotiation process.

Although the European Union acknowledged the strategic importance of the enlargement project from the very beginning of the transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, in practice, during the last decade it followed a 'non-strategic' approach. Neither a date, nor a clear timetable or the conditions of enlargement have been clarified for most part of this period. The official argument was that any move into this direction could slow down the preparation in the candidate countries and increase differentiation with negative impacts on regional stability. However, these arguments can easily be rejected if the scheme of the 'Eastern' enlargement is compared with other strategic objectives of the EU, which all have had a fix timetable and a clear set of preconditions. Following the Nice summit and the announcement of the first possible date of enlargement in 2004, an obvious conflict started to develop between the date and the pattern and conditions of accession. Since most candidate countries want to grasp the first opportunity to become members of the Union, accession negotiations have been accelerated and the possibility of a large-group enlargement has been increasing...